Intertextuality and Constructive Non-identity: In Memoriam to Identity

In Memoriam To Identity is apprehended in chapter four as an experiment with the récit form. Acker’s compositional practice in In Memoriam to Identity is distinguished from that at work in Don Quixote through the topological form of the text, which folds in intersecting narratives and creates a fluid textual space, rather than a space characterised by disjunction. These topological revolutions have a counterpart in the radical politics of the text. Returning to Denise Riley’s work, I argue that through intertextuality, In Memoriam To Identity offers a site for that which Riley understands as constructive non-identity. The political and social negation of the voices of the narratives is positioned in contrast to the fictional site that offers the voices of the text a site of existence. The text points to the tensions surrounding the avant-garde idea of the sublation of art and life. In its inclusive and reintegrative form, the experimental text is apprehended as a site for community, solidarity, and intimacy.